Source: Women are Human
CA — Ottawa, Canada. On June 2, 2021, a group of formerly incarcerated women sent an open letter to the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS), “to address how you have silenced us and ignored the urgent threats of violence to criminalized women and girls – threats which you have refused to acknowledge or address in favour of popular politics.” In the letter, the women outline their support for “the rights of transgender people to live free from violence”, and “feel that trans-women should have their own, separate accommodation, outside of any women’s prison, and one that is uniquely equipped to meet their needs”.
The women describe how female prisoners have been silenced when trying to discuss sexual assaults by male prisoners, that CAEFS does not believe women, and that the organization considers any such complaints to be “transphobia”:
Some of us, and many of our sisters with lived experience, have been silenced, not only by male abusers but then again by CSC [Correctional Service Canada] and by your organization. We know women inside and others who are out, who have been told both by CSC and by CAEFS that any complaint against a transgender person is transphobia. Knowing your position, many of our sisters inside are silent about ongoing abuses for fear that EFRYs [Elizabeth Frys] and CAEFS will withdraw the only halfway house support available to them; contracts without which theY cannot be granted parole. It is clear that you do not believe us and you do not believe women.
The women state that CAEFS can no longer represent them or their interests, and the previous trust established between the organization and imprisoned women is gone. The letter ends with the following call to action for CAEFS:
We urge you to do what is necessary to reach out to women inside who are now largely without feminist supports because your positions and your politics have taken sides against them, blanket denying their accounts of violence and labelling them transphobic. We urge you to join the urgent push for an investigation into the issue of male-bodied transfers to women’s prisons and to ban all male-bodied individuals from women’s prisons. Lastly, if you cannot adequately represent us, then we urge you to recognize your privilege, your lack of expertise and step down from the positions you hold over us.
CAEFS Shifting Mandate
Up until 2019, CAEFS operated as “an association of self-governing, community-based Elizabeth Fry Societies that work with and for women and girls (emphasis added) in the justice system, particularly those who are, or may be, criminalized”. In its 2018-2019 annual report, the outgoing president wrote of admiring “the staff at the Elizabeth Frys across the country who work tirelessly and passionately to support and advocate for and with marginalized, victimized, criminalized and institutionalized women and girls.” (emphasis added)
As the women highlight in their letter, at the May 2019 CAEFS conference, the organization “adopted a blanket position of trans inclusion that, among other things, would come to mean supporting the transfer of any transgender identifying males from men’s prisons to women’s prisons.” The women point out that this transgender position “was decided on by a large majority of women without experiences of criminalization.”
CAEFS’ Response to the Letter
On June 4, 2021, CAEFS made a public statement about the women’s open letter. It said that “we hold that there must be a distinction made between men with histories of sexual violence, and trans women”, and that it respects “the right of trans women to be in the prison that aligns with their gender identity – should they choose – regardless of whether they have opted into or had access to gender-affirming surgery or not”.
Despite it being only two years since CAEFS broadened its mandate to include “gender diverse people”, the public statement also claims that it “has always advocated for the people (emphasis added) incarcerated in the federal prisons designated for women, and these prisons have always incarcerated gender-diverse people and not only cis women.”
CAEFS also states that it has not received any reports from incarcerated women of sexual harassment by male prisoners who have transferred to women’s prisons – which confirms the women’s assertions that women in prison are not reporting these to CAEFS, for fear of retribution. In fact, Heather Mason’s own experience in trying to get CAEFS to take the women’s concerns seriously were not only ignored, but she was called “transphobic” for raising these issues in the first place.
This was the first message I sent them about helping the women back in 2019. They kept making me ask someone else & just sending me in circles. Then their interim ED called me transphobic. She is the blonde woman sitting on the panel with me. Back when I was useful to them. pic.twitter.com/75WoDEIx5B
— Heather Mason (@Mason134211f) June 5, 2021
CAEFS seems to interpret a lack of reports as a sign that no such incidents have occurred – though it leaves open the possibility that this may not be correct, and these assaults may have been reported elsewhere. It appears this latter assessment is accurate, as incarcerated women have been turning to women like Mason for help, as she has been sounding the alarm since 2019. For example, in 2020, Mason spoke of women contacting her about a violent male prisoner housed with them.
Despite dismissing the women’s concerns, CAEFS ends by encouraging the signatories to the letter “to reach out to CAEFS by phone or email to follow up, including to establish a process for repair”.
We already told you to fix this means investigating the transfer policy & the impacts on us women. You have the staff, the access and the funds to do it.
What is there to talk about?
Do your jobs. It’s that simple.Bald-faced liars
Unbelievable u r still denying knowledge pic.twitter.com/WnqNbB2dg8— Heather Mason (@Mason134211f) June 5, 2021
Efry Executive Director’s Response
Following Heather Mason’s Facebook post about the open letter, an Executive Director of an Efry in Ontario, went through each of the “likes” of Mason’s post and contacted each of the women the Executive Director knew, writing that they had “both disgusted and disappointed me”, and that these women were “horrible” human beings.
The message that I started the post about. This woman is the Executive Director of an Efry in Ontario.
They only try to hide their behaviour fro the public so it doesn’t tarnish their image. She went on my Facebook to see who liked the letter & if she knew them she messaged them pic.twitter.com/Sb4DzE7KOB— Heather Mason (@Mason134211f) June 5, 2021
ACTION
To express concerns over male prisoners being placed in women’s prisons, please contact the following individuals:
Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness: [email protected]
Shannon Stubbs, Shadow Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness: [email protected]
Angela Arnet Connidis, Deputy Commissioner of Women Offenders Correctional Service Canada: [email protected]
Senator Salma Ataullahjan, Chair, The Standing Committee on Human Rights: [email protected]
Dr. Ivan Zinger, Correctional Investigator of Canada: [email protected]
Marie-Claude Landry, Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission: [email protected]; [email protected]
